School homework - 'Write an introduction to a novel'

“It’s gonna be okay”. But it’s not going to be okay is it? People always say that, but how do they even know?

My friend Tara always says it, and then chuckles as I snarl, “you don’t know it will be okay”.  “God Georgia, you’re so pessimistic for a 15 year old! Lighten up a little,” she says it with a grin, but I know that when she uses my full name instead of ‘Gee’, she’s being serious. I understand where she’s coming from but it’s so difficult to lighten up when everything in my life is so dark. Nothing’s going to be okay for me; even Tara, my best friend, doesn’t understand this.

I don’t try to be miserable, misery just has a way of finding its way to me and making sure that I know nothing is ever alright. It snakes its way through even my happiest memories, tinting them with the doubt that relentlessly whispers to me ‘why should you have this happy memory?’ So when Tara naively tries to cheer me up, it is thrown back in her face as I remember why nothing will ever be okay again.

My thoughts are constantly flickering, like the sound on an old CD which jumps and stalls, but unlike track 6 on Take That’s first album, or the last track on ‘Now That’s What I Call Music! 24’, my thoughts always go back to the same place. I used to be a bright and happy child. Normal, I guess, but everything changed when I was 7…


Where do you think this story is going? Write the next part in the comments for me!

Teenage Swearing

When I say ‘damn’, you hear ‘suffer eternal punishment in hell’
As a 16 year old, I am more than confident in expressing my opinions or merely thoughts using numerous swear words, sometimes over excessively. As with many of my friends, we find ourselves saying phrases such as ‘fuck off’ or ‘that was shit’ and this is widely recognised by most people as, not only an insult, but a way of emphasising a point. However in the literal sense, these phrases sound ridiculously childish and don’t even make sense. According to the British dictionary, when my sister grabs the remote and switches channels, I tell her to ‘sexual intercourse off’ and after seeing the fourth Twilight film, I retorted ‘that was faeces’. Well clearly it wasn’t but the use of this language has developed in a way that one should take offence to these phrases. Furthermore, words like these are used so commonly that many people, mostly peers to my age group, have grown immune to them and calling your best friend a ‘whore’ is now seen as more of a sign of close friendship.

Having said this, people in the older generation do not react to the words in the same way. They are neither immune to the words, nor viewing them in the literal ‘Oxford dictionary’ sense. After telling my dad ‘this pasta tastes like crap’ and remarking to my mum that ‘my teacher is a bitch’ I was sent to my room and the wifi was turned off. Please note, when the wifi is turned off in my house, it is a big deal. In fairness, I do not think that my parents are naïve enough to believe that I don’t swear at all, I think that with teenage swearing, the parents first experience shock that their child finally knows these words and is choosing to use them, losing their innocence. Most parents do not teach their children these words, so it comes as a surprise when they pop up in conversation – how did she learn these? Naturally, the parents make it very clear that these words are unacceptable but as with anything, if one is told not to do something, ‘caution hot surface’, they will probably try to do it, ‘shit that’s hot’.

The parent’s despair comes from when they realise they cannot stop their children from learning these words. The frustration of taking time to monitor their teenager’s television viewing and reading to ensure these profanities are not taught to them, and then realising that someone at school has filled them in with the latest curses must be overwhelming. It is somewhat worse as the parent does not even know which words are in their vocabulary, and so every mother’s worst nightmare is their child spontaneously quoting Ron Weasley at Sunday dinner with the grandparents by exclaiming ‘that was bloody brilliant’. Perhaps the child does not even realise that this can be seen as offensive for people who were brought up to understand the word as blasphemous, and so when granny starts choking on her roast potato after this comment, the child is none the wiser, they have merely complimented her cooking.

Teenagers are forever trying to overstep the boundaries; I personally know that swearing will make my parents go ballistic at me during an argument, which is my exact aim. However similarly, I realise that my parents use the words too, just not as often and general. This means that even they realise it would be hypocritical of them to take offence at me using these words so the need for punishment comes when they are used unnecessarily or to purposely cause offence. I believe that people think teenage swearing is an issue not because nobody else knows these words, but because they are taught them by other people so they come as a shock, even though most of the time one is not trying to offend. The universal definition for swear words has been naturally changed so generations have different ideas on one’s intention after saying these words. 

A (fairly serious) article about an issue facing teenage girls today (school work)

One of the most prominent problems facing teenage girls today is the latest media technology that is available to them at their fingertips. Despite the fantastic changes it has made to society, it also has a more negative affect on some aspects of our lives.

Firstly, the invention of the contraceptive pill in the 1960’s enriched the lives of so many people. It meant that children were not born into families where they were unwanted or could not have a stable life, and it gave women a choice about what they wanted to do with their lives. However in these modern times, this easily obtainable pill has become far too common so more and more girls (and their partners) take for granted the fact that they can have sex without getting pregnant. This increases the pressure for girls to have sex in an unstable or new relationship.

Additionally, the development of media in the 21^st century means that role models to young women have dramatically changed. Whereas 100 years ago, girls would have looked up to authors such as Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott, or their favourite characters from books, with the invention and success of the television, they now look up to the likes of the Kardashian family, people from reality shows like ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ and other such celebrities. This means instead of having realistic aspirations such as becoming a servant for a rich family or having a respectable and well-paid job, girls are now obsessed with mimicking the ‘model’ look and becoming famous. These expectations encourage girls to try and change their image to look like their favourite celebrities, which in some cases makes girls want to become super-skinny and painted in make-up. Young women do not have as much time, nor money, to achieve these looks so as a result, try to rush their appearance using crash diets and overpowering make up.

Furthermore, new technology such as digital cameras mean that girls are bound to be snapped anytime they socialize, so for them, looking good is a necessity. Networking sites such as Facebook make it so much easier to share photos, and also comment quickly and easily. This gives girls another insecurity; it is too easy for people to make comments or judgements over people they barely know, so girls are unconfident and self-conscious, forever needing to look attractive. In television, one style usually takes over the world of celebrities for a few months and so in this time, normal girls are expected to take on this image – girls who don’t are usually bombarded with offensive labels and stereotypes, such as being ‘emo’.

The recent progressions in the world of plastic surgery now teach different morals to young women; the fact that it is so easy to have a blemish removed, or body parts changed gives the idea that imperfections are not acceptable and we should all change ourselves to become ‘perfect’. Cosmetic surgery pressurizes people about their image, and celebrities whose surgical enhancements have been widely publicised advertise the fact that unnaturally changing the body is the ‘cool’ thing to do. Additionally, when girls eagerly look over the latest glamour magazines they see beautiful models pictured in articles, they do not realise that these have been airbrushed or photoshopped, so therefore they believe that they should look like this – this is a massive confidence breaker. With so many pictures of influential people looking perfect and fault-free, it is becoming an expectation that girls should look this way, when in reality nobody does.

I think technology has many fantastic advantages but as with many things, it also comes with a price. Our mothers and grandmothers would have been influenced by the Hollywood film stars of their day and would have tried to have copied their look and behaviour (like the craze of smoking). However, the difference today is the constant 24:7 bombardment of mass media and technology which makes it so difficult for young girls to be individual and stand out from the crowd. 

A monologue from the point of view of one of the four seasons

I hate him. He just does it to spite me. I have my time and he has his. He just chose to do things differently. (shrug) I try my very best to brighten up the country, I don’t hide away the sun, I know how she hates that, (whisper) she’s sensitive. He, of course, loves to cause trouble and routinely hides her away, gets his colony of clouds to stand in front of her and spoil the elegant atmosphere she has helped me to create.

It was Mother Nature who elected me for the summer holidays, best time of the year because everybody can enjoy the goodness I spread. Well, he hated this! But, I mean, its not like he just got half term like Autumn, (sniggers) he was given the Christmas holidays. Though if you ask me he has ruined them- I could do a much better job! What’s the fun in sprinkling a hint of snow and making the public expect more? Getting their hopes up, only for them to receive a weeks worth of splattering raindrops replacing the delicate snowflakes they were expecting. He’s selfish. He saves it all for himself.

Look at him! (points) All high and mighty sitting on a chair of snow over there, who does he think he is? And then to steal the leaves off the trees…well that is pure evil, how would he feel if I went over there and stole his earmuffs?

When Mother Nature briefed us about our jobs, me, Spring and Autumn all understood. But as soon as she leaves us to control her children, those monstrous little tornados, all hell breaks loose and Winter decides to freeze the whole place. Now why would you do that?!

He’ll get what’s coming to him. Take Spring for example, she is always late, leaving Winter to conduct even more gloominess around the UK but, boy did she suffer from that! Mother Nature was furious when she realised how late Spring always was. She banished Spring to under the ground and now all she can do is push flowers up from under the soil. Not a good life if you ask me!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I am needed to go and persuade the sun to heat up the country. Ha! That will get on Winters nerves!

Short review of Inception

Okay...so I watched this rather unwillingly at a friend's house one evening. I wasn't overly keen at first because I knew it was a confusing movie and there were a lot of us watching it- I can be easily distracted at times - I knew this would confuse the plot even more for me. Having said this, I watched the film with 2 or 3 'experts' or 'fanatics' of the film. They explained everything to me as it was happening so I do have a basic idea* of the storyline.

*note a very, very basic idea

My initial thoughts were that it was an extremely clever movie, the plot was gripping and unique, and how they portrayed this abstract idea was interesting. Having said this, a lot of the main issues in the story were not highlighted (until a friend pointed them out to me). They were said in passing conversation by the characters so it didn't really occur to me what was happening. As the film progressed, however, I found that the plot was unravelling and made the occasional "oooohhhh, I get it now" comment when a previous situation was explained!

Overall, I would rate this film 7/10 for somebody my age. I would not recommend it to anyone younger but I think someone of higher intellect would possibly enjoy it more! I might try to watch it again soon and see whether I enjoy more the second time, as I know what is going on!